Chapter 2: The Wounded Wolf

After a few rings, the other person picked up quickly with a clear, ringing voice. Wow, this isn’t right. Something is seriously wrong. Growing more anxious, I tore at my hair and finally asked the least strange question I could think of among all the ones I’d prepared.

“Hey, what’s the date today?”

– Huh? What?

“I said, what’s the date today?”

– You’re so random, seriously. Hold on! Uh… It’s February 26th. But you called just to ask that?

“…What did we do yesterday?”

– What’s with you since earlier… Is this some kind of quiz? We had graduation yesterday!

No question about whether I was alive, no concern about how I was doing. Chae Yeryeong answered only what I asked, plain and simple. He seemed flustered by the sudden questions, but he didn’t sound like he was lying.

“…f*ck.”

Without even saying anything else to Chae Yeryeong, I hung up and tossed my phone onto the sofa. I grabbed my hair with both hands and collapsed facedown on the floor. This confirmed it—I had definitely regressed. And to right after college graduation.

Do people usually go back to the past when they get shot? No, if that were true, there’d be a ton of Americans who’d gone back in time… Wait. Is that why America’s so successful?

My head was such a mess that all kinds of stupid thoughts crossed my mind.

“What am I supposed to do…”

It’s not like my life was worth living again, but knowing I have to live through all that extra time again made me feel so hopeless I could cry.

“Ugh… f*ck…”

God, this is so frustrating. Irritation surged up, but my mind was already racing.

If I live the same way as before, that same shitty situation will come again, right? Or something similar.

No matter how steel-hearted I am, no matter what kind of superhuman mental fortitude I have, I definitely don’t want to go through that again.

But what can I do differently? Or can things even change at all?

“Huff… I’m going crazy, seriously.”

My head felt like it was about to explode, and I wanted to throw everything aside and sleep like I did earlier, but I couldn’t keep escaping reality forever. I forced myself to calm down and thought again.

Honestly, the simplest way would be to cut ties with Chae Yeryeong starting right now. But that wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

First of all, our families have known each other since we were kids, and we still live next door and stay close. Besides… Well, anyway. So that’s out.

The next way is to distance myself from those five men, but I’m in no position to tell Chae Yeryeong not to hang out with them, or to tell them to stop paying attention to Chae Yeryeong.

Normally when people regress, they use their knowledge of the future to succeed, right…? Come to think of it, how much do I actually know about the future? I don’t do stocks, and I don’t remember lottery numbers. All I know is that Chae Yeryeong will reunite with those five again—but what the hell can I do with such useless info…

“Huh? Wait!”

That’s it! Instead of Yeryeong, what if I go meet those five myself and get as close to them as possible? Then maybe they’ll save my life too? I’m not expecting them to fall head over heels for me or anything, but at least I could become closer than before. Not a lot—just enough that they remember my face and are willing to help.

Fortunately, Yeryeong is the type to write diary-like updates to me whenever something happens, so I know exactly how he reunited with the five. I don’t remember the exact date, but if I just remember roughly what happened on that day, I’ll know when the time comes.

Let’s get even a little closer to those five and make things less miserable. I set my new goal for this second life.

First, I racked my brain and organized what I needed.

Choi Taehyuk. He’s the first one I’ll meet among the five.

Choi Taehyuk was the grandson of the founding chairman of a famous construction company. What’s interesting is that there are heavy rumors that this construction company controls the underworld of our country. Perhaps because of that influence, there were also stories that his Italian mother was from a famous Mafia family in Sicily.

Recalling that Yeryeong had said those rumors were partially true, the gun that appeared when I died was probably because of this bastard. Even if not, just dismissing it as rumors was hard—the guy looked dangerously intimidating even without them.

Over 190 centimeters tall with a large, muscular build. Bronze skin, jet-black hair, piercing blue eyes—with that Italian blood, his features were perfectly Western, chiseled and handsome. He always wore a blank expression and barely spoke, radiating an aura that made it hard for anyone to approach.

The fact that this man—who looked like the boss even among those five—is my first target is a bit concerning… But reuniting with him is also the most advantageous situation to make a good impression.

Heheheh—Alright then, time to pack that first-aid kit to the brim~. And I should look up some wound treatment videos on YouTube too.

Right after regressing, I started working dawn part-time jobs. I had loans and living expenses to cover, so this was something I couldn’t change from before. Since this body was from a year ago, the construction work that had become somewhat familiar was brutal, but thanks to the know-how I’d built up before regressing, I felt like I was suffering less than last time.

Zzzzz—

I was putting on my shoes to leave when my phone vibrated in my pocket.

“Hello?”

– Ah! Jinho! I knew you’d be awake!

An unexpected voice came through from the other end.

“Chae Yeryeong? What are you doing calling at this hour?”

– I woke up a little early today and don’t have anything to do. I was wondering if you’re free to chat.

This bastard, who’s never worked a day in his life, has no idea how infuriating that sounds to someone heading out to work, does he?

I let out an involuntary sigh and opened my mouth to tell him to stop bothering busy people and go jogging or something. But just then, a memory flashed through my mind and clamped my mouth shut. There was exactly one time—just once—that Chae Yeryeong called me at dawn while I was heading to work.

Back then too, I found it absurd that some pampered rich kid was calling because he was bored after waking up early. I told him off, saying what kind of privileged nonsense was that, I was heading to work, and if he was bored he should go run some laps outside.

I just said whatever came to mind, but Chae Yeryeong actually left the house to go jogging—and on his run, in some alley… Wait, so that day is today!

– Hello? Jinho?

Chae Yeryeong kept calling me, probably because I’d suddenly gone quiet. Sorry, but hyung doesn’t have time to explain things to you right now.

“Hey, something urgent came up! If you’re bored, go bother someone else!”

– Huh? Wait—! Jinho—

I ended the call hastily, shoved my phone back in my pocket, and ran out. If today really is that day, I needed to act as fast as possible.

According to Chae Yeryeong, he had found Choi Taehyuk in one of the alleys on the way up to my house.

I ran until I was out of breath and stopped at the edge of the hill. Walking slowly, I peeked into every alley that appeared—and in one corner of an alley, I spotted a dark shape. The streetlight was dim, so I could only see a vague silhouette. I was afraid to approach recklessly, but I swallowed hard and moved my feet.

What if it’s just some weirdo? I crept forward cautiously—and at that moment, the dark shape made a sound.

“…Ugh…”

A low, suppressed groan. It seemed like the person I was looking for.

I quickly approached and examined the man. Even crumpled and battered, the handsome face belonged to none other than Choi Taehyuk. His expression was twisted in pain, and his eyes were closed—clearly unconscious.

“Ugh… Blood.”

I shuddered involuntarily at the blood soaking the ground and his body. Even in the dim light, it was clear he was badly hurt.

How am I supposed to carry this giant? The practical concern came first, but there was no choice but to try. Day laborer Kim Jinho. Let’s do this.

I managed to lift his upper body, lean him against the wall, and then hoist him onto my back with great effort. His legs dragged a bit on the ground, but I figured he wouldn’t sue me for ruining his expensive suit after I saved his life. Thinking that, I trudged painfully toward home.

“…Ugh…”

“Hah… hah… You’re really f*cking heavy.”

I finally made it home and dropped Choi Taehyuk onto the living room floor. Catching my breath, I sat down beside him and peeled off the wet black suit jacket. Underneath was a blood-soaked shirt around the abdomen.

“Ugh, f*ck.”

I really don’t want to take this off. Just from the amount of blood, it was obvious the wound was severe—my hands were trembling. I took a deep breath, forced myself to calm down, and started unbuttoning.

The lower my hands went, the more Choi Taehyuk’s body was revealed—covered in blood. My fingers naturally slowed, and I just squeezed my eyes shut and tore the shirt open wide.

“Hah…”

A deep sigh escaped. The fishy smell stung my nose and made my stomach churn. I can’t open my eyes. I really f*cking hate blood.

But if I don’t do this, I’ll die in the future, and Choi Taehyuk could die as soon as tomorrow. With that thought, I took another deep breath and opened my eyes. At the glimpse of a rather long gash, I nearly threw up—but swallowed it down and shot up to head to the bathroom.

Should I take him to the hospital? I pondered while filling a basin with warm water, but the more I thought about it, the better it seemed to treat him here first. The wound was large but didn’t look deep, and in the past, Chae Yeryeong had said he nursed him at home too.

Besides, I hadn’t heard any loud noises around here last night, so it didn’t seem like a knife fight happened nearby—he probably walked here after getting wounded. If he’d wanted to go to the hospital, he would’ve called 119 on his way.

I concluded that there might be circumstances, so I shouldn’t unnecessarily call for help. He can decide for himself whether to go to the hospital or go home once he wakes up.

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